For further details regarding the conference (listing of all areas,hotel, registration, tours, etc.) please visit the conference website:http://www.h-net.org/~swpca/

A new area on girlhood studies has been added to the Southwest/TexasPopular and American Cultureâ€™s Annual Conference. This area aims todiscuss a variety of topics related to girls, growth, identity, orsocialization of this unique population.

Paper proposals covering any aspect of girlhood or female coming-of-agewill be reviewed for acceptance. Please send queries, 250 word paperproposals, or 500 word panel proposals, including full contact info forall participants for review to area chair by deadline of November 15,2007. Please include a short bio listing previous and current researchactivities; no full CV needed.

Interdisciplinary approaches and all scholarly fields are welcome. Also,as this is a popular culture conference, presentations that depart fromtraditional reading encouraged. Presenters also need not have auniversity affiliation; we embrace all forms of experiential knowledge.Graduate students are especially encouraged to submit proposals.

Email proposals to area chair:Abigail Hellerabigailheller_at_yahoo.com or Abigail.A.Heller_at_nhmccd.eduPhone: 832-259-3039

Please put "Popular Culture submission" in the subject line.

Possible topics of particular interest include (but are not limited to):

Body image/portrayal of body imageWeight issues, both under- and overweightMedia representation in the newsHealth issuesLiterature discussionsFeminist studiesEducational approaches or advantage/disadvantageDating and lovePeriodicalsSelf-perceptionTelevision seriesMulti-cultural studiesRelationshipsParental influenceCultural/social pressureAny other topics of interest

Panel proposals are welcome and encouraged, however single papers will becombined with other similarly themed papers to form panels.